Yoga at Home for Absolute Beginners!

Yoga at Home for Beginners: Is it Easy to Quiet Your Mind Under Stress?

 

For those of you who read my blog regularly, I bet you're wondering WHY I am using Edvard Munch's painting, "The Scream" once again (I used it back in May).  It has been one of those days - no weeks - no actually almost a month of lots of personal family stress.  I truly felt at times yesterday and today as if I were losing it!  Losing what?  Well, losing myself and feeling as if I could not cope.

I felt frazzled, upset, and totally depleted.  Enervated to the core. For a few hours I forgot that I have incredible tools at my disposal!  Meditation and yoga.  How grateful I  am that my mother invested in a Transcendental Meditation (TM) class for me when I was a high school senior.  It really does come to the rescue.  I avoid any type of prescription drug or medication if I possibly can and I haven't even taken a Tylenol for at least 7 years.  So, I never even consider popping chemicals of any kind to alleviate my stress.  No, I use only natural aids.

Feeling incredibly stressed this afternoon, I realized that I could do a full twenty minutes of TM. preceded of course by some alternate nostril yoga breaths.  Doing any type of yoga breathing before meditation is like a "warm down" for stilling the body to prepare for meditation.  When I am quite tired and stressed, I meditate lying down.  I don't care that tradition says to meditate sitting upright in a half-lotus or lotus pose!  I find that I can totally relax while lying down because I don't have to hold up my body in any way.  And, no, I don't usually fall asleep. Today I lay flat out in the Savasana (sponge/relaxation pose) and felt my body sink into my mattress.

When I first lay down on my bed, the tension in my body was so palpable!  I felt absolutely wired! About 8 or so minutes later, however, the tension began melting away. By the time I finished 20 minutes of TM, I felt so relaxed!  And so grateful.  Is it easy to quiet your mind under stress?  Not if you don't have the right techniques.  But, if you know yoga breathing and how to meditate, your have incredible power tools right at your disposal.

Yours for quieting your mind the natural and health way -with yoga breathing and meditation,

 

Yoga at Home for Beginners: Can You Really Learn Yoga from a Book?

For me the answer to the above question is a resounding YES!  I taught myself yoga by reading two books way back when I was 15.  And, I wrote my recently released book so that people who don't want to attend a class or can't for various reasons, can teach themselves yoga from a book.

But, challenges can arise and one woman who bought my book about six weeks ago contacted me for guidance. She was unsure about exactly how to teach herself from my book.  I advised her to record her own voice and guide herself through the poses by studying a pose, memorizing several steps, executing those steps, reading more, memorizing more, and executing more.  That's how I taught myself.  A few weeks later I checked back with this woman who told me that she had her husband read the instructions aloud to her and then she followed along. Wise and clever woman!

I also checked back with another buyer of my book to see how she used the book.  In her email she replied, 

 

Hi Laura, first of all my yoga practice is going well. As for how I learned the poses, I have about 10 years of experience (on and off) doing yoga. I've taken classes and done videos. Yours was the first book I used and you inspired me to do yoga at home without a book. For poses I already knew how to do, your pictures and instructions were refreshers. For new poses I read what you wrote and then looked at pictures. Sometimes I would have to read a sentence or two, put the book down, try it then pick up the book again until I figured it out.  Well, there you have it.  Yes, you can learn yoga from a book if you wish to - at least the simpler poses.  Many people have done so.  It's your option!  Certainly, when you use a book, you can take all the time you need to learn and executive the pose. Yours for learnng yoga in a variety of ways including from a book, Laura Venecia Rodriguez

Yoga at Home for Beginners: Start Yoga Now! September is Yoga Month

 Di

Did you know that September is Yoga Month?  I didn't - until a few days ago and the month is almost over!  Nevertheless, it's never too early or too late to begin a home yoga practice and really, virtually anyone can do it as long as they have their medical advisor's go-ahead if they have any physical limitations or health challenges of any kind.  And, in my opinion, yoga is a most helpful antidote to many health problems.  If you have not begun a yoga practice, the two Amazon.com reviews of my book below demonstrate that you don't even have to go to a yoga class to benefit from yoga.

Mariann Mohos - See all my reviews

This review is from: Yoga at Home: Gain Energy, Flexibility, and Serenity in 20-30 Minutes a Day (Paperback)

Excellent book! I often heard about the benefits of yoga and I've purchased a few books. I gave it a try a few times but my efforts have never led anywhere. Laura's book broke the ice! It is very easy to follow her instructions and it is an excellent stretch after sitting 8 hours on one spot! I'm still working on focusing my mind on the moves and it's easier and easier. Her book is a must for people who need and want to release their all day's stress in just 20 minutes a day! ... oh, and Laura has a great sense of humor, you'll catch yourself laughing on her funny comments.

 

Moxie (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Yoga at Home: Gain Energy, Flexibility, and Serenity in 20-30 Minutes a Day (Paperback)

It was refreshing to see an average person writing and serving as a model in a yoga book. That in itself is an inspiration. The instructions were quite clear and the photos quite helpful. References throughout the text and in the appendix to other yoga books permit readers with a deeper interest to read further. This book itself is enough for someone interested in beginning a home practice. It is practical, recommending appropriate clothing, music, props, and what to do when you are less then motivated or pressed for time. I especially valued the author's special hints. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in beginning a yoga practice at home.

Yours for learning yoga now,

Laura Venecia Rodriguez

 

Yoga at Home for Beginners: An Insightful Review of My Yoga Book

Wow, it has already been just over 4 months since I publisehd my beginners yoga book!  I wrote this book for a specific reason:  to encourage people who may have considered starting a yoga but have been intimidated by all the extremely difficult poses splashed across magazine covers or beginners classes that are too fast-paced.  I neglected to share a wonderful review I received in July.  I am posting this review now because it's as if the reviewer read my mind and really "got" what I say in my book.  I hope it inspires people out there who have considered yoga to finally check it out!

 

"Alonzo (Kansas City, MO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Yoga at Home: Gain Energy, Flexibility, and Serenity in 20-30 Minutes a Day (Paperback)

 

Laura Rodriguez' book manages to fill a gap on the yoga bookshelves. Hard to believe that there IS a gap on the yoga shelves, granted, what with so many books about yoga having been published over the last decade. But it's true. Here it is: What if you aren't an athlete, or someone who's hugely flexible? What if you're someone who'll never make it out of beginners' class? And what if you don't want to devote your entire life to yoga? How much is it still possible to benefit from yoga? 

Many yoga teachers (as well as people who write about yoga) have a hard time communicating with such people. It makes sense, given that many yoga pros have backgrounds as athletes and dancers. Whatever their many virtues, they often have a hard time imagining what yoga's like for those of us who don't share their gifts, or their devotion. 

That's where Laura's book has its originality. She's here to say: You can be a not-particularly-gifted-person in a physical sense yet still get a lot out of yoga. And she's here to compare notes with you and help you do that. 

Laura describes herself as "the consummate klutz." Afters years of regular practice, advanced postures continue to elude her. Yet -- and here's the important part of her message -- so what? Yoga calms her, it leaves her feeling upbeat and cheery, it helps her look and feel good physically -- Laura, who's in her 50s, looks great in the book's photos -- and it helps keep her stress levels in a manageable range. She does her 20-30 minutes nearly every day, and in a disciplined way -- but, hey, it's only 20-30 minutes a day. She hasn't spent years in India, devoting herself 24/7 to worshipping a guru. She just does a half hour of yoga at home. Yet look at the benefits she reaps. 

It's a cheery, helpful, sweet-natured, and eager-to-share volume, well-written, well-illustrated, and very well-produced. It's full of tips that we-the-not-particularly-talented can profit from, and it has many personal touches that make the whole yoga-for-the-untalented experience easier to relate to. Laura doesn't just provide instructions for poses and for meditations, she shares her own stories and frustrations. In its tone and its focus -- its "voice" -- I imagine that "Yoga at Home" exemplifies what yoga does for Laura. That makes the book doubly convincing and inspiring. 

All in all, a lovely, valuable and refreshing work."

THANK YOU so much, Alonso, for your well-written and thoughtful review!  I will share some more reviews over the next few days.

Laura Venecia Rodriguez

 

 

Yoga at Home: You Take Responsibility for Your Health When You Do Yoga

"Our Own Worst Enemy, an article in the September 14, 2011 Washington Express paper delivered a hard-hitting message - that the spread of infectious diseases such as AIDS, new strains of the flu, and more are not our only health concerns but that poor lifestyle choices including too little exercise, overeating,and smoking are leading to a "public health emergency in slow motion."  And, it's so sad because it's preventable!

I believe it's important that all Americans have access to healthcare insurance, particularly in case  of catastrophic injuries from automobile or other accidents that may be beyond our control and that could wipe us out financially. I also feel, however, that much of what consitutes our health insurance should be self-care insurance.  Many diseases and conditions are preventable and are reversable through careful attention to nutrtion, reducing stress through relaxation techniques such as meditation, and moving our "booties" daily by doing yoga and other forms of exercise.  

Because I do slow motion, gentle yoga that stretches and strengthens my body but doesn't build aerobic capacity, I also jump daily on a mini-trampoline (aka "rebounder) with small weight to get my heart pumping and to burn calories.  Is it easy to get up at 4 am on weekdays to do my exercise before I get son's breakfast and get him off to school - NO!   But, I do it because I enjoy the results and rewards of feeling energetic, slim, supple, and serene, and because I realized long ago, ONLY I can take responsibility for my health.  

So when you begin a daily home yoga practice (or if you participate in yoga classes all week long), you ARE taking a big step toward being accountable for your health and the quality of your life in a major way and for very little cost!  Congratulate yourself!

Yours for taking responsibility for your health with yoga,

 

Laura Venecia Rodriguez

"Our Own Worst Enemy"

 

Yoga at Home for Beginners: Today is National Imperfection Day!

I just learned that today is "National Imperfection Day!"  What a great theme - to know that whatever we do, we can do it to the best of our ability, but it doesn't have to be perfect!  REMEMBER this whenever you roll out your yoga mat at home and begin your daily yoga practice!

Even though I have been doing certain gentle hatha yoga poses for years (decades actually..), I cannot do many or probably most of them perfectly!  Does that stop me?  No.  I know that I still benefit so much and that the consistency of my practice is MUCH more important than the perfection of my practice!  Perfection is highly overrated so don't succumb to "atelophobia" which is the "fear of imperfection!

Yours for doing yoga at home without striving for perfection,

 

Laura Venecia Rodriguez

Yoga at Home: How to do the Recharging/Relaxation/Sponge Pose (Savasana)

 

Below are the instructions for how to do the Recharging or Relaxation Pose (Savasana) or aka "The Corpse Pose" (shudder - I dislike the latter name!). They are included in my book, Yoga at Home, Gain Energy, Flexibility, & Serenity in 20-30 Minutes a Day.  This pose is also called the "Sponge!"  So many names for such a seemingly easy pose!  You would think no instructions would be required! But, here they are.  As I said in my previous post, the simplicity of this yoga pose belies its power.

Sponge or Recharging Technique (Sanskrit name is Savasana) 

Type of yoga pose:  Passive, supine

Body parts targeted:  Entire body and nervous system

How to do the pose:  

Lie on your back on your mat and extend your arms and hands so they are limp at your sides about a foot from your body, palms facing upward.

Close your eyes and inhale deeply extending your abdomen. Hold 2-4 seconds and exhale deeply while constricting your abdomen. As you inhale, imagine drinking in delicious air.  As you exhale, picture releasing toxins and impurities from your lungs.

 

Keeping your body as limp as possible, perform the following movements.

Raise your left leg a few inches into the air and allow it to flop gently to the mat as limply as possible. Raise your right leg and repeat the movement. 

Bend your left arm at the elbow with your upper arm still resting on the ground and allow your left forearm and hand to fall limply on the mat as you did with your legs.  Repeat the same   movement with your right forearm.

Lift your entire left arm from the shoulder a few inches and allow it to flop gently onto the mat.  Repeat the movement with your right arm.

Gently raise your buttocks off the ground and allow them to gently flop back onto the mat. Gently roll your head from side to side and stay relaxed inhaling and exhaling gently and deeply. Focus on your toes and mentally command them to “deeply relax.”

Continue to your feet and give them the same command.  Work up to your calves, knees, thighs, groin area, abdomen, lower back, and upper back, neck, and head, giving the same command and pausing a second between each body part.

Gently roll your head from side to side, further deepening your sense of relaxation.

Continue lying on your mat for 2-3 minutes, inhaling and exhaling deeply, enjoying total relaxation. 

Practice time:  The sponge should take 2 to 5 minutes. You can also enjoy it for much longer if you have the time.

Number of repetitions:  1

Key benefits from this pose:

1. Helps you cool down after a yoga session. 
2. Releases tension while relaxing the mind and body.
3. Enhances serenity and may alleviate hypertension.
4. Recharges the body and replenishes your natural energy reserves, especially after doing a number of yoga poses that release energy.

Special hints and Laura’s experience with this pose:

You can heighten the relaxation benefits of this pose by imagining that you are in a favorite spot in nature—perhaps on an idyllic beach, soaking in the warm, golden rays of the sun as you command and allow each part of your body to relax. Feel the rays of the sun infusing all the pores and cells of the particular body part with light and warmth.

Just as you ease into and out of each pose, relaxing after a yoga session or sequence of poses helps you to fully assimilate their benefits and to distribute the energy released from doing yoga.

Yours for recharging with the "sponge!"

 

Laura Venecia Rodriguez 

 

Yoga at Home: Complete Your Session with the Savasana (Relaxation Pose)

The photo above shows me in the "savasana" (the Indian sanskrit term which is pronounced "shav-asana with the accent on the second a) pose which I like to call the "relaxation" pose rather than its other commonly known name, the "corpse!" I believe yoga enables us to feel more alive and that's why I so dislike calling this pose the "corpse." According to one yoga expert, the term "corpse" is an "unfortunate translation."  Apparently, though, the ancient yogis considered a "corpse" to be physically inert but "observant" and not dead at all.  So the term was not viewed in a negative light.

Regardless, doing this pose reminds me of what you experience during transcendental meditation.  You become very still and relaxed yet remain alert. Many yogis recommend concluding your yoga practice with the savasana. As I say in my instructions for this pose, after you complete a set of yoga poses, tension and stress are released and your energy is given a boost.  Lying very still in this pose for a few minutes at the end of a session enables your energy to stabilize and settle down in your system.

Taking the few minutes to do the relaxation pose is just so soothing and restorative as well because after doing numerous stretches and holds, you allow your body to relax completely.  However, because you feel like you're not doing much of anything, when you're under time pressure (I have to admit I am guilty of this!), it's easy to just skip over this last pose.  Take my advice - don't!  As stated in the article, "Heavenly Rest" in the the October 2011 issue of the Yoga Journal which discusses this pose in detail, "During savasana there is a complete recharge and rejuvenation of the body, mind, and spirit."  And, apparently some studies done in India have shown that this pose may help fight hypertension.

This morning I was more mindful of creating the intention to fully relax at the end of my yoga session with the savasana.  I located the eyepad I bought 2 years ago and forgotten about, placed it on my eyes, and I had one of my best recharging few moments ever!  The bliss stayed with me literally all day long! Tomorrow I will share the instructions for this pose which for many people appears a lot easier than it may be for them to do well!

Yours for recharging and relaxing after every yoga session the the savasana,

Laura Venecia Rodriguez

Beginners' Yoga at Home: As Dr. Oz Says, Yoga CAN Improve Your Sex Life

 

 Cobra pose (shown above)

 Plough pose (shown above)

 

Half-locust pose (shown above)

Full locus pose (shown above)

Today's Washington Examiner newspaper (lhat kind of right of center free paper distributed at the metro or maybe at your Washington DC metro doorstep) had its "regular healthy" living column by Dr. Mehmet Oz. And, today's title was, "How yoga classes can improve your love life."  Naturally, it caught my attention and I felt compelled to comment!

I beg to diffe with the article's premise only in that it's not "yoga CLASSES but, rather yoga POSES that can boost your libido. Well, whether in a class or in your home yoga studio, yoga poses can definitely rev up your sex life if you have one, AND let you know what you're missing if you don't....!

Dr. Oz says that yoga acts as an aphrodisiac because "the combo of stretching, toning, and deep breathing juices up a lot more than your joints"...and it "activates your vagus nerve which helps boost levels of key feel good chemicals in your brain, including serotonin, dopamine, and endorphins."  Dr. Oz reports that you'll start to see results "fast" from doing yoga - after just 12 weeks of practice.

Yes, that is true.  What Dr. Oz surprisingly neglects to explain is that yoga also messages your internal organs including your sex glands and that's why you gain a boost in your libido. The four photos shown above show a sequence of the cobra, the plough, the half-locust, and the full locust. Particularly, if done in this order, these poses can rev up your libido in far fewer than 12 weeks, maybe in minutes, I'd say, depending on your physicial conditioning.

Skeptical?  Just try it and and you might well like it.  I have included the instructions for these poses in previous posts which you can find in this blog's archives by doing a search.   I would have taken up too much space to put them all together here.  Or, in a shameless plug for my book, you will also find the complete instructions for all of them in my book, Yoga at Home:  Gain Energy, Flexibility, & Serenity in 20-30 Minutes a Day.

Yours for a healthy sex life with yoga,

 

Laura Venecia Rodriguez

 

Yoga at Home for Beginners: Yoga Poses You Can Do at the Office

 

 

A few days ago, the Washington Post's Health & Science section had several articles that focused on the value of fitting in exercise and movements of some kind at the office.  Over the years I have said that when your schedule is tight and you can't finish all your yoga poses at home, you CAN fit in certain ones into brief moments of the day at work!  And, it's a good practice to insert some poses throughout the day regardless, especially if you have a sedentary (research/writing) desk job like mine!  It's part of creating a yoga lifestyle.

Although the photos above show me doing 4 poses (arm and leg stretch, neck movements, backward handclasp, and sidebends) in my home yoga studio, all of these poses can be slightly adapted for the office (or ladies' or men's room!).  I regularly do the arm and leg stretch at work in the ladies room as long as I have relatively flat shoes.  This poses helps to elongate your back and spine after sitting crouched over a computer for hours.  

You can also do the neck movements at your desk chair as long if you sit upright in your desk chair or if you stand tall  The neck movements alleviate tension stored in your neck and shoulders that can come from sitting too long.  The backward handclasp can also be done while seated or standing and it also helps to dissipate tension in your shoulders.  And, finally, the side bends can be done at your desk or in the restroom as long as you're wearing clothing that allows you to bend from side to side.

If you want to gain maximum results from yoga, you must (I am adamant about this!) make it an integral part of your daily lifestyle.  And, that means inserting some poses into your day at the office if you possibly can.  If you're creative and have a strong intention to do so, you will find that you can!

Yours for slipping in a yoga pose or two (or three) at the office or at your desk,

Laura Venecia Rodriguez